DARKLIGHT

- 25 -

My dusty Order boots clanked against the magically-reinforced floor as I paced back and forth across the half-cell I had been thrust into. I was cold and tired, and my arm still burned where Atles had inserted the red shifter disc. It didn't come out quite as easily as the other ones, as I had quickly discovered. Some sort of internal mechanism kept the needle locked in my arm, and as uncomfortable as the Light shifter disc had been, this one was torturous.

The room was divided into two by a clear magical barrier, and for many hours, Kaces had been sitting with his back against it, silent. I had done my best to not bother him, and I wasn't sure whether that had been out of empathy or fear of retaliation, but I couldn't hold myself back anymore. "Why did you hide this from me for so long?" I cried at him.

He delayed responding for so long that I wondered if the barrier was noise-proof. "I remember yelling something similar at the Master when she told me," Kaces eventually said. "Anyway, I couldn't tell you while we were still at the conversion complex. I had no way to know when I was being watched."

I sighed in frustration. "But what about after we escaped?"

"Habit, I suppose. There was never a good time."

"You know that's a terrible answer!"

"Yes, I do." Kaces looked down in regret. "What do you know about Brymea?" he eventually asked.

I stopped pacing and turned to face him. He was still motionless against the barrier. "What does a legendary Order mage have to do with anything?" I asked skeptically.

"She's much more than an Order mage." Kaces crossed his arms and slouched against the wall, deep in thought. "Really, what have you been told?"

After a frustrating silence, I sat down on the cot behind me and explained what my father had told me. Kaces began to laugh coldly as I finished. "Near gods? Well, Brymea is very skilled at what she does, but she and Quiviu have their weaknesses."

"How would you know?"

He seemed to ignore my question. "Let me tell you the rest of the story. Your father was right, but there is plenty that the Order doesn't know, or can't tell.

"There were Light shifter discs long before there were Dark ones. Back when the Order was just a small republic, and all mages were Dark – or Kirevean, as we call them now – a mechanism was discovered for changing Dark mages into Light mages and separating their arkaetre's body from their own. Brymea was born Light from two shifted parents, and she was a technological genius. She perfected the shifting mechanism, eventually designing the shifter disc design that is still used today." He shivered, looking down at the shifter in his arm.

"As shifting grew more common, it became clear that shifted Light mages were stronger. Not just magically, but physically as well. Because Dark shifters were yet to be invented, the Order became composed of more and more Light mages. Kireveans were rare and discriminated against. Eventually, they decided that they had had enough, and revolted against the Order to gain power for themselves. Brymea-"

"Wait," I objected. "Dark magic came first? I was taught that it was an altered and enhanced version of Light magic. That's why Kireveans are so dangerous, right?"

"No. Dark magic came first and Kireveans are not innately dangerous. The reason for that belief is what I am getting to. Brymea was a genius, as I said before, and she perfected Light shifting. It got to the point where she was the only one who knew exactly how the Light shifter discs worked, so during the Kirevean attack, she was kidnapped and forced to design a Dark shifter disc with the knowledge that it would be tested on her first. Of course, it was imperfect, and Brymea's body became corrupted with Quiviu's form.